Is your green ready?
I remember loving St. Patrick’s Day as a child. My younger sister and I would wear pajamas
with green in them the night before to prevent any early morning pinching! A day when pinching is allowed! What kid wouldn't love that?! However, other than the fact that he was
associated with Ireland,
I really knew nothing about St. Patrick.
Just how did St. Patrick become the "Apostle of
Ireland?" After all, he wasn't
native to that land. Indeed, as a young
man of 16 years old, he was taken from his home in England to Ireland by
raiders where he lived as a slave for six years before having a vision that
told him he would return home. After a
second vision that told him his ship was ready, he escaped, walking 200 miles
to reach the ship at the coast and returned home. Sometime after returning home St. Patrick
became a priest. He wrote of another
vision:
I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: "The Voice of the Irish". As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea—and they cried out, as with one voice: "We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us."
De Paor, Liam (1993), Saint Patrick's World: The
Christian Culture of Ireland's
Apostolic Age, Dublin:
Four Courts Press, 100.
Around 432 he returned to Ireland and began preaching the
Gospel. He converted many people and
founded churches and monasteries across Ireland. His was no easy task, however. As a foreigner and former slave, he faced
much hostility. St. Patrick wrote an
autobiography, Confession, in which he
tells of the many trials he endured. It
is generally accepted that he died on March 17, 460 (although there is some debate about the
year).
There are a few symbols and legends associated with St.
Patrick. Most well known is the
shamrock, which St. Patrick used to explain the Holy Trinity. The shamrock represents the one God, and each
leaf represents one person of the Trinity.
The cross pattée, a symbol of Ecclesiastical heraldry on bishops' miters,
is often associated with St. Patrick as the founding bishop of the Irish church.
One legend tells of St. Patrick banishing all snakes from Ireland. After being attached by snakes during a
40-day fast, he chased them into the sea.
Modern scientists are quick to dismiss this legend citing a lack of
evidence that snakes ever lived in Ireland. When taken metaphorically, the meaning of the
legend becomes clear and makes perfect sense.
The Druids, spiritual advisors to Celtic kings, wore snake tattoos on
their arms. While there were Christians
in Ireland
before St. Patrick's mission, he was a major instrument in the proliferation of
Christianity, which supplanted the Druids (the snakes in our legend) in Ireland.
(Here's a fun link for adults about St. Patrick and the snakes.)
One final legend for today tells of how St. Patrick's
walking stick grew into a tree. During
his evangelizing journey, he carried with him an ash wood walking stick, which
he thrust into the ground wherever he was evangelizing. At the place now known as Aspatria (ash of
Patrick) it took so long to convert the people that the stick had taken root by
the time he was ready to move on.
Now that you have a brief life, symbols, and legends to
share with your children, (if you didn't already know them as was partly my
situation), let's make a craft to help tell the story. We are going to make a "stained glass
shamrock" with icons of the Trinity and St.
Patrick.
Supplies:
9x11" Hot Laminating Sheet & Laminator
or
Self-laminating Sheet
Green tissue paper, cut into small pieces (any shape or size
will work, so the kids can do this)
Icons of St. Patrick* and the Trinity
*There are many icons of both online. This one of St. Patrick illustrating some of the legends and
symbols is particularly nice.
Scissors or Paper Cutter
Permanent Marker
String or yarn
Directions:
1. Cut out the shamrock and trace it onto both sides of the
laminating sheet. For self laminating
method, only trace shamrock on one sheet.
2. Cut out the icons.
3. Open the sheet up (for self-laminating method, peel the
backing off one sheet and place it face up), and place one icon face down in
the center. Add pieces of green tissue
paper to fill the shamrock. It's okay if
these lay beyond the lines.
4. Place the second icon face up in the center and close the
laminating sheet.
4a. For
self-laminating method, cut out the shamrock with tissue paper. Peel back off
of second sheet. Place backing on work
surface, and place shamrock paper side up on top of backing. Add second icon face up. Place second sheet over shamrock, and smooth
out wrinkles.
5. If using a hot laminator, run the sheet through the
laminator (We ran them through ours twice just to be sure).
6. Cut out the shamrock (for self-laminating use the first
shamrock sheet as template to cut out second sheet). Leave a little space outside of the top lines
to punch a hole.
7. Run yarn through the hole and tie it to make a hanger.
Hang it in a window to see the stain-glass effect. However, I recommend only hanging it in
direct light during the week of the feast.
If you leave it long-term, the tissue paper will begin to fade from the
sunlight.
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